Falling for You and Other Cliches
by Irony'sFriend
Summary: In which Momo only wants to help out his senpai, and Rin decides that Momo might just have to die. Meanwhile, Ai is disillusioned and confused.


**a/n: **Basically, I'm still trying to figure out if I ship Rintori or Momotori.

_Disclaimer: I do not own Free!_

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><p>Falling for You and Other Clichés<p>

Momo wanted to be a good roommate. While he may have been skeptical about sharing a dorm room at first, he quickly took to the idea of having a built-in friend. Nitori-senpai didn't seem like the type of person Momo would normally spend his time with, but he liked the quirky kid. He offered encouragement willingly, and his loyalty never wavered.

Momo just wished Nitori-senpai would like him as well. He knew he could be obnoxious at times, and his boisterous personality sometimes annoyed those around him. Still, Momo wanted Nitori-senpai to look at him as he looked at the captain.

Rin somehow earned Nitori's admiration a long time ago, and Momo felt the slightest twinge of jealousy at how close the two were. Whenever Rin rose from the water, Nitori was there with a towel. When Rin needed some help filing away physicals for the school records, Nitori immediately volunteered. When Rin mentioned going somewhere to eat, Nitori told him he'd meet him there.

It's not like Nitori completely ignored him; Momo made sure of that. He asked him for advice with homework and begged him to time him on his backstroke. Nitori obliged him, but he always felt like a bother.

As he thought over every move he made, Momo came to an epiphany. Perhaps instead of trying to be like Rin-senpai, he should take a little more after Nitori himself! Momo resolved himself to be every bit the helpful kohai as he could be, and the first opportunity presented itself when Momo returned to his dorm room after spending the evening with his friends.

He knew Nitori returned to the room several hours ago to study, but Momo did not expect to find him like this.

He sat at his desk in the image of a good student doing his homework, but his head rested on top of his open math book. When Momo peered closer, he realized his senpai was fast asleep. Nitori always had a tendency to push himself just a bit too hard at practice, and somehow, Momo was not surprised to see the same dedication devoted to his schoolwork as well. He certainly had a lot to live up to by living with this guy!

Nevertheless, with the way his neck turned on the crinkly pages of algebra formulas, Nitori couldn't be comfortable. Momo glanced from his senpai's desk to the bottom bunk, and he figured he could carry the second year that far. Nitori could not be called heavy by any means. After all, Momo stood taller and broader than him, so surely he could carry him from the chair to the bed.

Momo nodded to himself with determination and made to pick up Nitori until he hesitated just inches away from grabbing his shoulders. What if Nitori-senpai did not want him to move him without his permission? Momo briefly considered this before tossing the concern away. He was doing a good deed, and that overruled the usual rules of personal space.

Momo slipped one arm behind Nitori's back and the other beneath his knees. He gently lifted the older boy, and he felt satisfied to learn that he could handle his senpai's weight just fine. Maybe all the work outs were doing him some good, or perhaps Nitori was just particularly small.

Either way, Momo took a few tentative steps away from the desk. He walked to compensate for the extra weight, and when he started to waver, he paused to regain his balance.

Nitori's breathing seemed a little shaky, and Momo could see from his intimate vantage point that his cheeks and nose blushed a faint pink. Concern hit Momo once again as he considered why Nitori would fall asleep so early in the day. Momo would have to give him a stern lecture about pushing himself too hard. Or if that didn't work, he could get Rin to do it. Nitori always listened to Rin.

Even though he currently performed a favor for Nitori, Momo sensed that familiar jealousy mixed with disappointment threatening to fog his mind, so he took another step forward to push it away. A step that quite literally proved to be his downfall.

Neither Nitori nor Momo particularly liked to clean up after himself, so clutter tended to pile up in their room. More specifically, their clothes and swimsuits often provided a rug for the floor, and Momo slipped on a fuzzy pair of sweatpants.

He could have recovered, but with the added wait of Nitori in his arms, Momo fell to the ground, and as he slipped forward, Nitori ended up beneath him.

A loud crash echoed throughout the dorm house, and when Rin stormed into the room to shout at the two roommates for being so noisy, he found Momo on top of Nitori who moaned as he curled on the floor.

"What the hell are you doing? Get off him, you pervert!" Rin screamed.

Before Momo could react or defend himself, Rin slung one arm around the redhead's neck and pulled him off Nitori. He dragged the struggling first year several steps back with his sharp teeth clenched. "If you dare to touch Nitori again, I'll kill you right here, and I'll even kick you off the swim team," he growled.

Momo opened his mouth and closed it uselessly in an attempt to explain the entirely innocent situation, but Rin's hold cut off his air supply. His crushed windpipe offered no help in getting out of his predicament.

Only the sweet voice coming from the floor saved him.

"Please don't hurt him, Rin-senpai! He's choking," Nitori cried. The fall must have finally woken him, for he rose to his knees and watched the struggle between Rin and Momo with wide, shiny eyes.

Rin loosened his hold enough that Momo could suck in a breath of oxygen, but he didn't let go quite yet. Not when the situation still screamed of a crime Momo didn't commit. In a desperate attempt to clear his name, the first year wheezed, "Just… trying… t-to… help!"

Rin glared down at the orange-haired boy before addressing Nitori in a significantly softer voice. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

Nitori shook his head frantically. "N-no, I just woke up," he explained weakly.

"He tried to pull something on you while you were asleep?" Rin hissed, and his grip around Momo's throat tightened to choking level once again. The first year in question officially gave up on surviving this ordeal.

"No, no!" Nitori protested. "I wasn't feeling well, so I took some very strong cold medicine, and I guess I fell asleep at my desk. I think Momo must have been… trying to help me to bed?" The last bit was directed at Momo himself, and he nodded eagerly at the correct deduction.

"Cold medicine?" Rin repeated skeptically.

Nitori nodded sheepishly. "I guess it's the weather change or something, but I started feeling bad after practice, so I went straight to the dorms to start on my homework and hopefully get to bed early. I think I underestimated the power of the medicine because I never finished my math."

Momo tapped on Rin's arm until the third year eventually loosened his arm just enough to let Momo's windpipe take on its intended shape again.

"I saw him asleep, and I just wanted to carry him to bed, so he could be more comfortable," Momo inserted while he had the chance. "I slipped on the clothes and fell. I didn't mean to hurt him or anything!"

Momo could feel Rin's hesitation, but after several quick heartbeats, Rin let him go completely, and Momo stumbled forward. He put his hands on his knees in order to catch his breath.

Rin pointed to Ai first. "You, go to bed and don't go to school tomorrow. You need to knock this out quickly, so it won't interfere with your swimming." Ai nodded eagerly while Rin turned his accusing finger to Momo. "And you." Rin narrowed his eyes, and Momo gulped. "Keep your hands to yourself."

Rin left their dorm room in a frustrated huff, and Ai and Momo exchanged embarrassed smiles.


End file.
